Hope and Friendship
by Deer Flower
Summary: Bunny has noticed a woman that appears and disappears around Easter time for centuries. This year, he finally decided to approach her and learns that the woman's name is Mary. The two form a small friendship and Bunny learns that children aren't the only ones who need hope every once in a while. No pairings,religious themes. Slight rating for mention of death.


I watched Rise of the Guardians and I immediately fell in love with the movie, especially Jack Frost. As Easter approached, I couldn't help but wonder what would happen if Bunny met up with Jesus. I kind of tossed that idea out though as I leaned more to the idea of him meeting Mary, Jesus' mother.

It took me a few days, some research, and lots of back spacing before this one-shot was written to my liking.

Little warning: There are a lot of religious themes in this so don't go around saying I didn't warn you, because this is your warning. Also, I couldn't think of how to type out Bunny's accents so if it seems to English to ya'll, that's why. Finally, I focused a little more on Mary because 1) she is Jesus' mother and 2) I wanted to focus more on how Mary felt when her son died. I tried not to get too detailed with the Crucifixion because I didn't want to offend anyone too much. If I have, please accept my apologies as that was not my intent at all.

Last thing (hopefully): Some of Bunny and Mary's interactions include speaking through flowers. At the end of this story, I wrote a list on what they mean. Hopefully their close to their actual meaning.

Finally (for real this time): I don't have a specific time frame for this, except it's after Jack Frost was born and of course, after Jesus' death. And Bunny and Jack don't get along, but it's not necessarily because of the Blizzard of '68.

Okay it looks like I've covered everything so without further ado! The long one-shot!

Disclaimer: I do not own Bunnymund or his eggs. They belong to William Joyce and DreamWorks. The religious figures also do not belong to me.

* * *

Despite all the headaches and worries the Easter season always brought, Bunny was more than happy to put up with them. Seeing the happiness on the children's faces as they discovered his hidden eggs and looking forward to the rest of the year with hope was worth all the trouble. Now if he could get North to acknowledge this he would be a very happy Pooka.

Bunny also knew that holidays sometimes feel victim to human wills. As their beliefs changed so did their celebrations. Festivals might be diminished, traditions would be added, altered, or thrown out altogether, and even the dates would sometimes change. It all depended on what the humans thought at the time. However, most holidays that dealt with the welcoming of spring usually involved the same ideas: new hope, new beginnings, fertility expressed through rabbits, life expressed through eggs, and an egg hunt. Even with a few add-ons here and there, Easter continued to be an important holiday for the humans.

For the last few hundred years however, Bunny had noticed that there was one group of humans who seemed to want to claim Easter as their own. Wherever they went, he saw them try to get others to quit worshipping a holiday they saw as honoring false beings. It worked with some groups but others were unwilling to break away from their beliefs. Eventually even that group decided to adopt some of those ideas and incorporate them into their own belief.

As the years went by, they became a bit more radical in their beliefs but were able to convince a vast amount of people to follow them. For a while Bunny was afraid the holiday might lose him believers, but as things calmed down he was happy to see that everything was mostly the same. Children still believed in him and hope continued to live on.

Easter was approaching again and while he would normally spend the entire month before getting his eggs ready, he decided to see how the humans were getting ready. For the most part nothing seemed unusual, but he noticed a change about a month and a half before Easter.

The first thing he noticed was that most churches became bare at this time, no flowers were inside and the normally joyful music became almost mournful. Another thing was that the people would try to be much kinder and generous during this time, and would even give up stuff they enjoyed or made resolutions to be better people. What stuck out most though was that the people would seem mournful at first but gradually filled with hope as Easter approached.

Finally, a woman would begin to appear almost everyone. While her physical appearance was sometimes different, she would usually be seen in a simple blue dress with a veil over her dark hair. Whenever Bunny saw her she would usually be watching over a group of people, usually children or those who seemed to be troubled. From a distance Bunny could usually see a small smile stretch across her face but sometimes, he noticed that her face would seem to blank out as if she was looking back in time.

At first, the Pooka did not give the woman much thought. She seemed to be nothing more than a calm, gentle spirit who offered comfort to those who needed it. She would show up mysteriously and then head back to wherever she came from, which was usually after Easter. During that time, Bunny's curiosity had him following her around whenever she showed up. He was worried he might be freaking the woman out, but she didn't seem to mind too much and would even flash him a small smile every time they saw each other.

Despite these encounters, the two never started up a conversation. It wasn't that Bunny didn't want to talk to her; he just didn't know the right way to approach her. Whenever he did think of a way to approach her, something would always get in the way. A paint malfunction, some of the eggs would spoil, other eggs were unhappy with their designs, he was called away on Guardian business, or had to deal with a troublesome winter spirit. By the time everything had settled down, Easter would be over and the woman seemed to vanish.

This year however, Bunny was determined to settle his curiosity about the woman. He made sure the paint was the right hue and the plants and river was working properly, the eggs were kept at the right temperature, made each egg pick out the design they wanted, and told the other three Guardians he was not to be disturbed this season for anything unless it involved an apocalypse. There was still one problem left to deal with, but Bunny just hoped that Jack Frost decided to lay low this season. Before anything went wrong, Bunny left the Warren and headed out.

After about an hour of searching, the Pooka found her overlooking an old city. People were running around everywhere and talked almost endlessly with one another, but there was that feeling of mournfulness that usually started the month and a half before Easter. Many of the churches were already bare and even some shops had taken down their usually bright displays.

Taking a deep breath, Bunny emerged from his tunnel and slowly approached her until he was about two feet behind her. The two stayed silent for a while and Bunny was about to say something when the woman stated in a soft voice, "Nice to see you again, Aster. How are your Easter preparations coming along?"

She turned her head so that their eyes locked onto one another. Bright green eyes met with dark ones filled with caring and joy with a slight trace of sadness. The giant rabbit had seen those types of eyes on mothers who watched over their children and never ceased to provide them with love.

Suddenly feeling kind of nervous that this woman knew his name while he did not know hers, the Guardian of Hope found himself fidgeting a little as he answered, "Going pretty well this year, actually. No major problems or distractions this year."

Her smile widened as she asked, "Not even a blizzard?" "Not yet at least," Bunny stated, a small frown forming across his face, "the bloody show pony usually doesn't strike until a few days before Easter so I still have my guard up." "Of course," she replied, taking another glance at the scene beneath her, "he's actually not that bad once you get to know him a little."

Bunny let out a quiet snort, earning a small frown from the other. "At least he introduces himself before following someone around for many years." Her statement caught Bunny a little off guard, but he did notice there was real ill-feeling towards him.

"My apologies. I'm-" "E. Aster Bunnymund, surviving member of the Pooka race. Commonly known to humans as the Easter Bunny. Also known as the Guardian of Hope along with being an extreme egg collector and wonderful chocolate maker." She concluded, leaving the other somewhat speechless. Now he really felt guilty about not even knowing her name.

"Well since it seems you know my name and my work, might I ask for your name?" The two looked at each other for a long while until the woman answered, "I go by many names to many people, but Mary is the simplest." Bunny gave her a confused look but then just shrugged. Mary has been a popular name for centuries so it didn't really stick out that much to him.

"Is there anything else you wish to know?" Mary asked, snapping Bunny out of his thoughts. "Just a few. What kind of being are you? You kind of strike me as a spirit but yet, not a spirit if that makes sense." Mary grew quiet for a few minutes then answered, "I see myself more as a mother."

Bunny just blinked at her in confusion as she turned away and headed into the busy city. He considered following her but after noticing a large number of children running around, decided to head back to the Warren to make sure preparations were going smoothly.

Before he left though, he cast one more glance at Mary to see how the humans reacted around her. If anyone noticed the woman wearing a blue dress and out of date veil they didn't show it. Instead, she seemed to actually be interacting with everyone as if she was an ordinary human. When a troubled looking gentleman accidently bumped into her, he mumbled an apology and when their faces met, his face seemed to instantly clear up as she said, "It's alright, sir. Have a blessed day." With that they split off.

Deciding that he had seen enough for the day, he thumped his foot on the ground and jumped into the tunnel. Mary looked up the where the Pooka used to be, noticing a white Easter lily growing from the soil.

* * *

It was three weeks before Bunny saw Mary again. For some reason, a few of the eggs decided it would be fun to come up with their own paint colors. Unfortunately, their mixing messed up the other colors Bunny had spent months working on so he had to spend two weeks cleaning up the eggs' mess. After that, he spent another long week redoing all of his previous colors. During all of the craziness, six of his eggs had snuck up to the surface.

Bunny did not even know they were missing until he felt another presence enter the Warren. Thinking that it was an intruder, Bunny held up his boomerangs and was about to throw them when a voice called out, "So that's how you treat visitors. You always struck me as the hospitable type."

Recognizing the voice, he put away his weapons as Mary stepped out of the tunnel. Hobbling at her feet were the six eggs that had snuck out. "Alright you rotten eggs," he addressed them, towering over them, "Go back to the others and I better not catch you wandering out again, ya hear me?"

The eggs gave an equivalent of a nod and hobbled away. As they walked off, Bunny noticed that the back of their shells were painted. Three of them had a detailed design of a red rose. Each egg's rose was facing a different direction but all three stems were drawn the same way with three thorns added on. The other three also had a highly detailed flower, this one a white Easter lily. The flowers were also in different directions, but the lily petals were elegantly curved the same way.

"Hang on you six," he called out, causing the eggs to freeze, "who painted those flowers on ya'll?" "I did," Mary answered, flashing a wide smile. The eggs hobbled back to stand by Mary, showing off the woman's designs. "I found them on the surface looking for some flowers to pick so they could show you what they wanted this year. Of course," she chuckled, picking up one of the lily eggs, "they forgot that they didn't have hands to them grab with. I was about to send them back here when they mentioned what had happened. They were pretty upset so I painted on the flowers they wanted. I hope this doesn't cause you too much trouble."

The eggs looked up to Bunny's face for a sign if he was angry. Even though they didn't have any faces, the Guardian knew that they felt a little guilty about sneaking off. Of course, he couldn't put the entire blame on them. He had been busy fixing the paint fiasco so he didn't have time to ask all the eggs if they wanted anything in particular. "Well, as long as they don't change their minds later it's alright with me," he stated, letting out a smile as the eggs started jumping in relief.

"Thanks for bringing my eggs back. If there's anyth-" Bunny stopped himself when he noticed that Mary was gone again. There didn't appear to be any footprints and where she was standing, two azaleas had sprouted. Their centers were a deep pink and the color slowly faded along the petals and ended in white at the tips.

Bunny found himself chuckling at the flowers' meaning and shooed the six eggs back to the others. He still had more than a thousand eggs to paint before Easter.

* * *

Another three weeks passed by before the two talked again. Another disaster struck the Warren, this time as a mischievous winter spirit who 'wanted to kill some time before they headed to Antarctica'. A few of the painting plants had frozen and some eggs refused to jump into the paint river in fear of getting frozen in it again. The plants eventually sprung back up within a few days but the eggs were still suffering mentally.

Thankfully everything calmed down once again and Bunny went up to see how the humans were doing. Strangely, everyone was in a positive mood despite the barren buildings and lack of flowers.

He was still looking around when a voice called out from the side, "I heard you had a little snow problem." He mumbled something and said, "I really wish you would stop that."

Mary looked at him from her seat on a rock and replied, "I'm sorry. I've been waiting to talk to you for a while, but I knew you would be busy restoring the chaos at the Warren." Surprisingly, none of the humans seemed to notice the seven foot rabbit (that looked more like a kangaroo) and woman wearing outdated clothes talking to one another. Instead of thinking about it however, Bunny took a seat beside her saying, "It's alright. Nothing a little fertilizer and psychology couldn't fix."

Mary's eyebrow went up in slight confusion but didn't press for more details. She tucked her legs closer to her as she watched a large crowd gather in front of a church. In the center stood a man making hand signs over table with palm leaves resting on top of a red table clothe.

Bunny followed her gaze asking, "You know what they're doing?" "Praising their savior before they kill him," she answered, resting her head on top of her knees. The rabbit let out a loud gasp and was about to say something when the pair caught movement beside the rocks.

Hobbling in front of them were six eggs, the same six who had snuck out over three weeks ago. "Now what are ya'll doing here?" Bunny asked them. The eggs didn't answer and went over to Mary. Carefully they jumped onto the rocks one by one and sat around her like a group of children wanting attention. The woman smiled softly and straightened out her legs, gesturing the eggs to climb on to her lap. They did so eagerly and as they clustered in her lap, their perfect flower designs making it look like the woman had a bouquet.

The members of the church group, still unaware of the pair, all held up the palm leaves and proceeded back inside the building. Music sounded from inside and the place eventually filled up with singing. Remembering what Mary said, Bunny turned back to her saying, "You seem to know a lot about what's going on over there." "Well yes," the woman stated, softly stoking one of the eggs, "it is part of their annual Easter celebration."

"What do palm leaves and death have to do with Easter? The leaves I can kind of understand but death? That just doesn't make any sense." Mary thought for a minute then answered, "It's not just any death, Aster. It's THE death. The death that saved their ancestors, the death that will save them when their time comes, the death that gives their lives hope, the death that… nearly broke a mother's heart in two." Her voice lowered at the last one and she stared at the eggs in her lap as Bunny looked up at her.

Her whole body seemed to freeze up as her hands cupped around one of the eggs. Despite looking directly at it, Mary's eyes were blank as memories flowed through her mind. Bunny continued to stare at her, but his ears perked up when he heard voices speaking from inside. One of them talked about someone betraying a person while another one talked about accepting their fate, which seemed to be about dying. He quickly put Mary's last outburst and what he just heard together.

Bunny was about to ask Mary a question when he saw that the woman had vanished again. The eggs, unprepared for the woman's sudden disappearance, slid down the rock and landed in a pile on top of one another. Bunny quickly shot up and looked around for her, but once again she had left without a trace. Resting on the spot where she was laid a small bouquet of indigo chrysanthemums.

Knowing that she probably needed some time to herself, he opened up a tunnel entrance and gestured for the eggs to go first. As they fell in one by one, the rabbit gently took the flowers and jumped in after the last egg had fallen in. Where the tunnel had closed up, a poppy flower had sprung up.

* * *

He spent the rest of the week painting eggs and planning out hiding spots, but he also made sure to go up to the surface at least twice a day to look for Mary. During her absence he learned what had happened to her son centuries ago. After finding out, he was more determined to find her.

As usual though, when she didn't want to be found, he couldn't find her. When Friday morning came and there was still no sign of Mary, Bunny was about to call it quits and prepare for Sunday when someone asked, "Do you need something, Aster?"

His ears twitched a little as he turned around saying, "Just looking for you, Mary." She chuckled a little from her seat on the rocks. The pair were in front of the same church from earlier that week, and just like last time the humans didn't seem to notice them. Bunny let out another ear twitch when he saw that the six eggs were once again in the woman's lap. "Why is it so hard to keep track of six eggs?"

No one answered as Bunny sat beside Mary, staring at the stained glass windows that decorated the church. They sat in silence for a while as the sun's light began to be swallowed up by the gathering clouds. "Strange," Bunny muttered, looking up, "this happens every year the Friday before Easter. One minute it's bright and sunny, the next minute it's cloudy."

"Mourning," Mary commented, stroking one of the eggs in her lap, "the skies are in mourning, and so am I." Bunny didn't say anything as she continued, "It's strange, just last night his brothers swore they would always stand beside him. Now, one had betrayed him, one denied him, most had run away, and only a few went up to his dead body. Even the people he wanted to help had turned against him. It's sad that he knew all of that was going to happen."

"If he knew it was going to happen," Bunny interrupted, "why didn't he try to stop it? Why did he put his life at risk for those who just wanted him dead?" A sad smile stretched across Mary's face. "That's something that I wondered myself. He told me… not to cry for him, that everything was how it was supposed to be. Through his suffering I stood by him, talking to him. He was my life, my lord, but most of all, my baby boy. As he died, he said that the Father was waiting for him. I couldn't help but wonder why it was the Father's will to have his son, my son, killed."

Tears were slowly falling from the woman's eyes, rolling down her cheeks then landing on the eggs. They shivered for a second before moving closer to the woman, not minding that they were getting wet. Bunny looked at her in sadness for a minute then gently rested his paw on her back.

Through the sobs she continued, "All I could remember was when he was born and how I just held him in my arms. I watched him grow up, performing many miracles and changing so many people's lives. Do you know how they repay him? By torturing him, ridiculing him. Still he promised that what we were seeing, no matter how much I didn't want to see it, that it wasn't the end. Instead, he said that it was a new beginning, that everything would become new."

Throughout the whole story Bunny didn't take his paw off of her, trying to offer her some comfort. The sky was still cloudy, but he could sense that they would pass within an hour. "I wondered," she mumbled, catching Bunny's attention, "how he must have felt, knowing what he had to do. Can you imagine, knowing you were created just to die painfully?"

He thought she was just being rhetorical at first but when he met her sad eyes, he found himself answering, "Honestly, I can't. I knew my place was to protect the moon's power, protect the children when the darkness became too powerful, to protect their hope so that they would not be afraid of the future. I've always known it was my duty to protect, and I also knew that I might die doing just that.'

"But, I guess that's where hope comes in. You place yourself in someone else's hands, hoping that your sacrifice will make a difference no matter how painful it is. When the pain over, those that you protected will hopefully not have to look toward the future with fear and hesitation. That they will free themselves from unnecessary burdens and just, live. Does that answer your question?"

Throughout his little speech Mary's eyes continued to water but this time, there was happiness behind the tears, as if a weight was just lifted off of her shoulders. "Actually, I already knew all of that," she confessed, smiling as Bunny let out a slight frown, "but hearing it from someone else, especially from the Guardian of Hope himself, just makes it seem more real. Thank you, Aster."

"Well that's kind of my thing you know," he replied, scratching his head a little, "spreading hope and all of that." Before he could say anything else, he found two arms wrapping around his body as a body pressed closer to his chest. He was lost for a second but then bent a little to return the hug. The eggs gave off a little protest at being moved so quickly, but let it go as they tried becoming part of the hug.

By the time they let go, the sky had cleared up and the sun's rays were once again spreading down their warmth and light. Mary wiped the rest of the tears from her eyes as a few people passed by, their faces solemn but their eyes betraying happiness. "I need to go, Aster," she said, shooing the eggs off her lap so she could stand up.

"At least you're saying bye this time," Bunny joked, also standing up, "no flowers this time?" Mary let out a small laugh asking, "A simple daisy alright with you?" The bunny also let out a laugh as a single daisy appeared at his feet, catching the eggs' attention. While they tried picking it Bunny said, "I also need to get back to the Warren. Easter is in two days and there's still a lot of planning to do."

He expected Mary to say something but once again she was gone, an azalea growing from where she was. It was just like the first two she had given him and he let out another chuckle. He opened up a tunnel just as the eggs somehow managed to pick out the flowers. Deciding not to question it, shooed them in then followed. Where the tunnel had closed, sprang another poppy flower.

* * *

When Easter Sunday finally showed up, all of Bunny's plans had gone off perfectly. All of the eggs were uniquely painted, well hidden, and lit up the children's eyes with hope as they found them. Bunny watched all the action from various hiding places and couldn't help but let a large smile slip across his face. While everyone may still value Christmas over Easter, Bunny would allow himself to be content with it after seeing the children's smiles.

Church bells rang a slight distance away and a crowd of people happily exited the building. The children, still not fully aware about the religious side of Easter, eagerly waited for their parents to hand them their baskets before heading off to find the eggs. Everywhere he looked, new life filled the air along with their hopes for a wonderful year.

He was so lost in the happiness that he, once again, didn't notice another presence next to him until they said, "The children really enjoy your eggs." Playfully mumbling he turned around to face Mary. She appeared much happier and let out a playful laugh when she noticed a child climbing up a tree to retrieve a very well hidden egg.

"Yeah, this is always my favorite part about Easter. Just seeing the kids have a good time, not letting the world's problems ruin their joy and hope." A comfortable silence fell around the pair as they saw the six troublesome eggs being picked up by six siblings, who let out large smiles at the still perfect flower designs.

"I'll be leaving pretty soon," Mary stated, earning the other's attention, "my son is waiting for me to go see him so we can celebrate together." "You mush be happy," Bunny commented, "most kids don't even want to be seen talking to their mothers." "Yes, I am. I'm glad you decided to say 'hi' this year, Aster. It was nice talking to you."

"You, too," he said, "but before you head out. I got something for ya." Reaching behind his back, he pulled out an egg. It was slightly bigger than a normal egg and was beautifully painted with a chrysanthemum and azalea intertwining their stems on one side, and the silhouette of a woman in a blue dress sitting next to a silhouette of a bunny with a poppy floating above them on the other side. Painted in the spaces were six eggs, three with Easter lilies and three with red roses.

Mary looked at the gift with wide eyes as she carefully took it from Bunny's paw. "Aster… I don't know what to say." "Well a thank you is a pretty good thing to say," he said, earning a playful glare from the receiver. "Well, thank you Easter Bunny. Though I must admit, you do look more like a kangaroo," she said with a wink.

Before he could make a comeback, Mary planted a small kiss on his cheek, instantly silencing him. "I'll treasure it for all of eternity." With that, she vanished again. Bunny shook his head and noticed another bouquet at his feet. It contained all the flowers the two had exchanged with each other and was wrapped in a soft blue clothe. A small piece of paper was attached to the flowers with the words, 'Thank you for the words of hope and your companionship. You should have said 'hi' a long time ago, E. Aster Bunnymund.' In front of the last word was the lightly crossed out word 'Kangaroo'.

A loud chuckle escaped the Pooka's lips as he retrieved the bundle, agreeing the woman's last sentence.

* * *

And that is the end. So what do ya'll think? Good, decent, 'meh', horrible, disgraceful, 'OMG what the heck is wrong with you'? An answer to the last one, a lot cause I'm crazy/weird/random/insane.

But seriously, thanks to those who read it. If you would be so kind as to share your thoughts/questions/concerns/advice or point out some mistakes, I will gladly read them!

Little side notes: I originally wasn't going to include the eggs but as I was typing, they just starting dancing in my head saying 'Write us! Write us!' so I did. I hope you liked them as much as I do. Next, Bunny and Mary first talk on Ash Wednesday, which is why all the people are sad if you didn't get it. Why could the gentleman see her? To show that not everyone is who they appear to be. Now why did no one see them while they were in front of the church, that's just a bit of artistic license.

Last thing (I promise): Mary's speech to Bunny on Good Friday was actually how this idea started. As I was listening to the song 'New Again' by Brad Paisley and Sara Evans last week, I kept imaging Mary saying this to Bunny as she looked at her son dying on the cross while Bunny just listened to the grieving mother. The song itself is about Jesus trying to comfort his mother as she mourns at her son's death and is sad that he must die in order to fulfill his mission. Mary's dialogue is based off the song, but not word from word. I would recommend listening to the song if you want an idea of how I'm making Mary feel during the conversation about her son.

Well that's about all I got. Thanks again for reading this and I hope all of you have/had a Blessed and Hopeful Easter!

Flower Meanings:

Chrysanthemums –used to express grieving and sadness, but can also represent cheer

Indigo (color) -intuition, deep contemplation, meditation

Poppy- consolation

Azalea- indicates you wish for the recipient to take care of themselves

Easter Lily- hope, love, white shows great happiness about bond with recipient, can also represent Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary

Red Rose- love, can also be associated with Our Lady of Guadalupe (where Mary appeared near Mexico City)

Daisy- wishing for a pure and placid Easter season


End file.
